tattoos make me sew happy

We live in a very lush, saturated, verdant green area of the Pacific Northwest.

To get everything that deep, vibrant, intense green you need rain.  BUCKETS and BUCKETS and more BUCKETS of rain.  Rain comes with dark, dreary clouds and skies.  Rain brings mud and more mud.  The continuous dampness brings aches and pains.  The mud creates muddy boots, clothes and dog paws.  Everything is wet.

At one time of the year, our welcome mats may have been cute and charming.  However, this time of year, those cheerful inviting mats are muddy, soggy, saturated and well used.

Rain causes me to focus on indoor hobbies.  Reading, baking/cooking, cross stitching, quilting, more reading, indoor bike riding, rebounding, board games, more reading, podcast listening and sewing.

Almost every day is some shade of gray.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the color gray.  I mean I love gray sweaters, gray paint (SW Amazing Gray is my favorite), gray thread, gray sneakers, gray fabric for quilts and  I have a favorite polka dot gray upholstered chair.

I don’t love gray skies for the 57th day in a row.  That might be a bit of an exaggeration, however, it has become a bit dreary.  This gals’ cheerful attitude has dimmed a bit. I’ve been feeling a bit blue.

Yes, I use a happy light.  Yes, I stitch with full spectrum lighting.  

A girl needs color, I tell ya!

Cheerful, swirly color.

Did you know tattoos come in colors?

Yes, I said tattoos. (I’m guessing, I didn’t even shock my boys when they read that.  They are probably thinking, what is she doing this time?)

I found this unique & wonderful company that sells HAPPY!.  They offer an excellent product, prompt service with oodles of choices.  

Tattoos for your sewing machine!

I’m guessing you could put them on your power saw or cordless drill or air compressor as well.

I’ll let pictures show off my new HAPPY.

 

 

 

See, I told you.  Sew much happy on one beautiful machine.

Oh, by the way, the quilt in the background, it is called “Rabbit’s Paw“.  Years ago, I won those blocks in a block exchange.  I machine sewed the quilt top and hand quilted.  I even quilted a bunny on one of the squares.  There is one block that was sewn together wrong (mine).  Every time I spy that block, it still makes me chuckle.  

May you find or make some beautiful HAPPY in your world today.

In this together, friends.

Chat soon.

again with the polka dots

August 1, 2013 I wrote a blog post about my washer and dryer.  Actually, what son number 2 made for my washer and dryer.

https://sundayschildfullofgrace.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/less-wrinkles-more-happy/

less wrinkles, more HAPPY sundayschildfullofgrace.wordpress.com Remember way back when?  You know that time when you were all happy to have your very own matching washer and dryer(it felt so, I don’t know, grown up)?  You didn’t have to walk down th…

Everyone was doing everything they could think of to make me happy.  And Boy HOWDY , did that make me happy!

Fast forward to March 2016.  One week before moving, dryer goes kaput.  Drats.  Okay……tried parts, tried cussing, nothing.

Okay, New dryer.  Only one major problem

When we gave away the old dryer, I actually teared up.  What about my polka dots????

Yesterday around 2:00 pm  the door bell rang.  Hello UPS man!

What do you have for me?

 

Son number two comes through yet again!!!!!!!!  OH HAPPY DAY!!!

 

Excellent!  We are back in business.

Still on the laundry room “to do” list.  Paint cupboards white, install clothes pin door pulls.  Paint walls.  New light fixture.

Every time I step foot in that room I smile.

Apparently, doing laundry can make you HAPPY!

Thanks Gabe.  Love, Mom

Easter in July

You have heard of Christmas in July?  This is Easter in July.

This is a picture of a quilt top I made 20 some years ago.  I never got around to quilting it.

It is called Easter.  I like that. New beginning, starting fresh.

I usually only take pictures of my quilts that are neatly pressed and the pet hair has been removed.  Heck, I have had this quilt top so long, we have several different colors of pet hair somehow magically stuck to it.  (I can’t get some glue sticks to make a picture stuck to a card, yet somehow, pet hair is magnetic.)

The time has come.  I am going to hand quilt this puppy.  (not an actual puppy).  Here’s a question, how on earth, did I manage to drive around collecting all those colors of fabric while we still had two kiddos at home, I worked part-time, I was volunteering and driving and going and doing and making dinner and I somehow found extra money to pay for said fabric?  Weird.

Extra weird that I brought it out to show a friend while we were talking quilts.  She made the exact quilt! I had forgotten that tid bit of goodness.  One teeny, tiny exception, hers is quilted and in use already.  She inspired me to get a move on. Finish it for goodness sakes.

The colors make me happy.  They give me hope and make me mighty grateful.  I love that the time has come to make this into a real quilt.  Why did it take so long?  I have absolutely no idea.

I must say the points are pretty darn good.  Do you ever do that?  Look at something you made years ago, and speak like it was someone else.  “My, she did a good job on her points.  Interesting, she chose that color, goes very well.  Wow, where did she find the time to piece this?”

I am learning to be kind and gentle, to myself.  I find myself being pretty darn critical.  I sort of smile and secretly like it when I say nice things about something I made or did.

Okay, it’s a start.

Maybe, just maybe once this is quilted I will be gushing and going on and on about how wonderful a job I did.  Maybe I will write 3 blog posts about the amazing gift I have to put together color and make it into a cozy quilt.

Okay, I don’t see that happening.

Maybe, I will be proud of myself for finishing another project?

I am grateful that I have surrounded myself with vibrant, saturated color.

Color is most assuredly helping me to heal and do a little jig, with jazz hands of course.

By the way, I am seriously considering burgundy highlights.  I have been told that they are bold and sassy.  I am feeling saucy.  Yes, I think I may do it.

color your stress away

You know those lazy summer days?  Not so hot, you need to cool off in the pool or lake.  Not so sunny, you feel pulled to be outdoors drinking in the rays.

Just a lazy day.  Mr. Right was watching some golf on television, the dog was snoozing.  I didn’t feel up to sewing or working my brain.  All of the weekend chores were checked off the “to do” list.

Just so happened, Mr. Right bought me an amazing coloring book.  Yes, you read that correctly.  An amazing coloring book. (for grown up girls and boys)   It is called “Enchanted Forest” by Johanna Basford.

You can find it on Amazon.com for a touch over $10.00.

http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Forest-Inky-Quest-Coloring/dp/1780674880

There are also a couple other versions of the book “Secret Garden and Lost Ocean”.

Maybe you are attempting to ease into Monday?  Nice and calm, with a hot beverage and 10 minutes to yourself?

Think of your sweet niece you can’t figure out what to get  for her birthday? Think of your friend, spending countless hours waiting in the waiting room.  Think of the friend who needs to spend some time centering herself & unwinding.  Or maybe a teenager who needs to learn to calm down, turn off the videos,set aside the phone and just “be” for 15 minutes during the day.

Three rather large companies in Austraila are buying and giving books to their employees.  ANZ Bank, Westfarmers & health insurance provider Bupa  are providing color books to help staff handle stress of the modern work place.

The simple act of coloring can change brain behavior and help people achieve calm and balance.

Think of yourself.  Oh, you can still listen to what is on going in your family.  It is just that in the midst of kaos or calm, you can create something wonderful.  You choose the colors and the page you work on.  By coloring you can choose balance.

Want to relieve a little bit of built up stress?  Ever thought of getting out the crayons or colored pencils.  Or actually using those fancy markers your friend gave you?

Right before your very eyes, a black and white page “magically” turns into something of pure beauty.  No two pages are alike.  Free to do what you want in whatever lovely color you want.

Does color heal?   I know in my own life, my own study, color heals.  It doesn’t matter if it is glorious saturated color of fabric I work with while creating a quilt or stunning colors of vegetables and fruits within my daily juice.  Picking up a marker and applying it to the page does wonder for one’s spirit.  My spirit is lifted.  Heck, I am smiling just looking at my color drenched dragonfly.

I did that.  Oh, yes, I did.  Not hours and hours of hand work.  Maybe an hour.

Pretty fancy.

What a wonderful book to give or receive.

May your day be Graced with calm, colorful, balanced beauty.

scrap beauty

In 1998 I made a special quilt to mark our 25th wedding anniversary.  Prior to making that beautiful quilt, I spent 2 or so years collecting all sorts of gray (a nod to the silver of the anniversary) fabric.  The pattern is called 25 X 25 and I was searching for 25 different gray fabrics.

After making the quilt, I saved all those beautiful grays.  I had oodles of scrap pieces left over.  I knew one day, they would speak to me.

Enter Spring 2015……..inspiration strikes!

Trying to surround myself with color, rich, saturated color of healing.  Color lifts our spirits and urges us to move forward.  Color helps us see beyond the dull, mundane daily aches and pains, physical and spiritual.  Color heals my soul and spirit.

For years and years and more years, I have machine pieced and hand quilted my quilts.  I am embarking on a new process. While I still machine piece, I am learning to machine quilt.  Yes, you read that correctly, learning something new.  What was the last thing you learned to do?  Are you keeping your brain jumping by introducing new and different creative endeavors?   I am trying something completely new and different to me.  Mistakes are a plenty.  I am making adjustments.  Raising my chair, turning the music up louder, trying to let go of old habits…….change is tricky after 30 years of doing it one way.  Tricky but exhilarating.

I used all scraps.  Even for the backings.  I used up odds and ends. I used up different colors of thread.   I made a Whirly Gig and a Star Bright wall hangings.  I practiced and practiced.  Guess what?  I need more practice.  While I think I will continue to send out very large quilts to be machine quilted, I am enjoying this new to me genre.  Somewhat freeing and tugs at me to finish more and more.  

I took up the challenge of a project called String Bean quilts.  Use only scraps and put the strips together in any fashion.  I did use a beautiful yellow piece I collected while in Alabama.  Pretty satisfying to see some of those bits and pieces somehow “randomly” tossed together to create scrap beauty.

What would have taken a month or two to  for me to hand quilt, I can finish in one day.  The satisfaction in that alone, is mighty appealing. 

I will let some of the scraps, speak for themselves.  I will add photos.  Do you see a favorite pattern?  Does the star make you smile?

It certainly feels nice to get some of those “to do” projects off my list.